diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 9324daef20e69d8dee7c6484b57460428b23642a..06b50d4f9522749dc1b65c3439eb5f9cbcd2ced0 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ execute_process(COMMAND "${CMAKE_COMMAND}" --build .
 # deps
 add_subdirectory(deps)
 
+# api
+aux_source_directory(include/client API_SRC)
+add_library(api INTERFACE ${API_SRC})
+
 # src
 add_subdirectory(source)
 
diff --git a/source/client/CMakeLists.txt b/source/client/CMakeLists.txt
index 26623d3cdc39fc825af0a3e13007e47fff0e6a9c..2313c1633cdb120e830b8461e17d37776c35b9bd 100644
--- a/source/client/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/source/client/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ aux_source_directory(src CLIENT_SRC)
 add_library(taos ${CLIENT_SRC})
 target_include_directories(
     taos
-    PUBLIC "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/include/client"
     PRIVATE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/inc"
+)
+target_link_libraries(
+    taos
+    INTERFACE api
 )
\ No newline at end of file